As I write this week’s post, a 20-pound black and white purebred miniature parti poodle warms my lap.
He recently came into our home, upending our routines, stretching our patience and growing our capacity for love. His has been an incredible journey, though maybe not as incredible as Sheila Bunford described in her 1961 book, “The Incredible Journey,” which Walt Disney turned into a motion picture of the same name in 1963 and which Disney remade in 1993 as “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.”
Our incredible journey began a few months ago when my Darling Beloved began to feel a doggie-sized hole in her heart, no offense to Winston, our white, fluffy toy poodle who was adopted at the onset of the pandemic lockdown.
Carla needed a dog that would be hers, bonded to her, willing to sit in her lap and give her hugs and kisses. Winston is bonded to exactly one human on this planet, and that’s Carlton, our youngest. Winston couldn’t care less about the rest of us, unless we have food. He does occasionally need me to take him out, but other than being his bathroom buddy and the occasional dispenser of Honey Nut Cheerios, I am dead to him.
Knowing that I am always the resistant one to change in our household, Carla had been secretly checking out the Society of Human Friends of Georgia website and Facebook page for weeks. I started to figure out what was going on when I walked by her chair one day and saw her puppy scrolling on the SOHFGA Facebook feed.
Once the puppy was out of the bag so to speak, Carla started texting me photos of adorable and forlorn dogs at random times. I had to be careful when a text alert came across while I was at work. I didn’t want to pick up my phone during a meeting only to be smitten by another irresistible dog selfie. (No, I’m not crying… it’s just that these budget numbers are just so compelling!)
Carla was particularly interested in a doodle of some kind. She has enjoyed Bonnie, the affectionate, full-size golden doodle belonging to Meg, the girlfriend of ou oldest son, Barron. We love Bonnie, but Carla wanted a Goldilocks dog… not too big, not too small, just right. Somewhere between Winston and Bonnie.
Then, in early January, Carla noticed a deluge of dogs flooding her feed. A massive puppy mill operation in Coweta County had been discovered and shut down with 150 varieties of poodles and doodles coming to the various pet adoption agencies around the state. SOHFGA received 10. They called them “The Designer Doodles” and each was named for a different fashion designer.
“Ralph Lauren” was the first to catch her eye, but he was adopted before we could make up our minds to go for it. Then she saw the little black and white parti poodle they called “Pierre Cardin,” and it was over.
That’s how I found myself at SOHFGA’s offices in downtown Lawrenceville on Saturday morning, Feb. 1, meeting Pierre Cardin, or “Andy” as his foster mom was calling him, for the first time. While Carla was oohing and aahing over the cute little guy, his reaction to us was more muted. He pooped right there in the SOHFGA’s offices as if to say, “Hey, if you want me, you’ve got to deal with the mess, too.”
I believed we were in for a challenge from that moment on, but we were undeterred. Two weeks later, I’m relieved to report we’ve only had one accident, and he has been easier than expected. (Yes, all of these scatalogical puns were intended.)
The biggest challenge proved to be what we would name him. “Pierre Cardin” is fun but hard to get out when you want him to get off the sofa. “Andy” didn’t seem to fit him, especially since we have the very refined and particular Winston. Our family group text exploded with a variety of suggestions, most of which were not helpful, particularly when it took a turn in the dark direction of all of history’s worst despots.
Since we had a “Winston,” I helpfully suggested we start with something British. We were on “Wellington” for a while, but when Carla wanted to shorten it to “Wells,” Carlton objected. She then tried “Toliver,” but that was vetoed by the family texts.
To help us focus and in the spirit of Winston Churchill, I put us onto a list of British prime ministers. Harris absolutely refused to let us go with Neville Chamberlain. Why, you ask? Well because his poor leadership and foreign policy of appeasement led to the rearming of Germany after World War I and laid the groundwork for World War II, of course. Duh.
Somehow we landed on “Archibald,” which has been shortened to “Archie” and even “Arch.” I don’t think he knows his new name yet because he’s had so many.
Even as we sought to give him a new Wallace name, Carla’s curiosity and internet sleuthing led her on a quest to discover Archie’s origin story. She had read all about the news coverage of the shameful treatment he and the other dogs at the puppy mill received, but he did have a microchip in his ear. He was purebred, and Carla knew there had to be more out there about him.
Then, in the middle of his first week with us, this text message interrupted another work meeting:
“I looked up Archie’s microchip number and he was registered to a breeder in Utah. I texted her and she has given me TONS of puppy pics as well as his DOB (9/13/23). He is full bred miniature poodle and is AKC registered. DNA testing has all been done and there are no concerns. His name was Luigi as a puppy and the lady has been following the hoarding case and was hoping whoever adopted him would reach out to her!”
Turns out, the nice folks in Utah sold “Luigi” to the people who were running the puppy mill in Coweta County. They planned to use him to breed. His Utah family were so happy to hear that he had found a good home, no matter what we called him. They also gave Carla information about his mom and dad, Stella and Cowboy.
Archie has more backstory than a Marvel hero. It remains to be seen if he has any super powers. For now, he has captured our hearts and has been everything Carla wanted in a pet. I suspect he has the superpower of snuggling.
And for those of you concerned about my capacity to embrace another non-human companion, you’ll be happy to know that Archie, unlike the more sedentary Winston, has been a good walking companion. (So many smells!)
Besides, no one can resist the charms of Archibald Archie Andy Wellington Toliver Pierre Cardin Luigi, the super snuggler. I’m just glad his incredible journey ended with Archie in our hearts.
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